A REINDEER RIDE THROUGH LA.PLAND. 17 



the keepers of such places have much difficulty in 

 making both ends meet, and they have often to 

 endure great privations ; in fact, should ptarmigan 

 any season fail to visit the neighbourhood, their 

 existence becomes very precarious indeed. This 

 year only six of these birds had been snared there, 

 and the family had suffered in consequence. 



The lakes on either side of the station are full of 

 pike, causing, of course, a scarcity of other fish ; but 

 as the people never eat pike (why, or for what 

 reason, I could not make out), their fishery is of 

 little value. The salary of the keeper was 320 

 Aroners, or about 18 sterling; and this, added to 

 the payments from strangers or visitors on stray 

 occasions, made up the fjeld-stue keeper's annual 

 receipts, out of which he had to provide for a family 

 of a wife and six small children. With tears in 

 his eyes he begged for a rise of salary ; and the 

 amtmand promising to recommend an increase to 

 Government, made the poor fellow very happy. I 

 had a little conversation with the man, and heard 

 from him, with what truth I know not, that the 

 climate is annually becoming more severe. He 

 showed me patches of ground on which he alleged 

 he formerly had grown barley with considerable 

 success ; but even potatoes would hardly grow on it 

 now. From other sources I later on heard the same 

 opinion expressed ; and, in fact, from my own obser- 

 vations, I have almost come to the same conclusion. 



VOL. in. B 



